EXCHANGE OBJECTS IN THE TIMELINE

Exchange Objects in the Timeline
By Estelle MacDonald

The exchange option allows you to exchange one object in the timeline with another. This feature will work for any image or movie object but not text objects.

1. Open your Timing Pane, (F6) and select the Timeline or go to the timeline tracks directly (command+7).

2. Drag your object from the File Browser into the Layer you want to exchange and position your mouse directly over the icon of the object in the Timeline. Pause until you see the replace arrow (but don’t release your mouse yet).

Continue dragging into the Timeline over the track. (Don’t let go because as you drag, the pointer will display a tooltip showing the current frame number).

3. Find the object you want to exchange, and hold the pointer over the object keeping the mouse pressed. A dropdown menu will appear.

4. Choose Exchange.

Notice in the image below that the Fire Ashes object is highlighted. This is the object that will be exchanged.

Below is the updated image with the Fire Ashes object exchanged with the Satin Background object.

NOTE: If the new object has a shorter duration then the original object, (the object you are exchanging), then the original object will remain wherever the new object stops (as you can see in the image below).

The object is split and the original object continues from the last frame of the new object.

The Exchange option is great as it also transfers any filters, behaviors, and keyframes from the original object onto the new object. Very cool.